Posted on 04/14/2005 8:43:09 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Sacramento -- The FBI has expanded its investigation of state Senate leader Don Perata in recent weeks, interviewing current and former members of his staff as well as lawyers and lobbyists for Bay Area card clubs that hired Perata's business partner at the senator's suggestion, five people with knowledge of the inquiry said.
Federal agents are investigating Perata's financial relationship with the partner, Timothy G. Staples, and whether the Oakland lawmaker received any of the card-club money that went to Staples, according to people familiar with the probe who agreed to speak on the condition they not be identified.
The agents' questions also centered on how and why the four card clubs came to hire Staples, though the card clubs do not appear to be a target of the investigation, these sources said.
"The FBI is talking to some of the attorneys representing various card clubs," said one person familiar with the matter. At least four club representatives, three of whom are Capitol lobbyists, have been contacted in the investigation, these sources said.
The Chronicle reported in January that the clubs hired Staples after Perata introduced him to their lobbyists at a meeting he called in his Capitol office.
In addition, FBI agents paid synchronized visits one recent night to the homes of three of Perata's employees, asking questions about the roles and responsibilities of various people in his office, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Another employee received a visit on a different occasion; not all of them have spoken with investigators. The employees, including current and former members of Perata's staff, worked in both his Capitol office and his district office.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
> ... state Senate leader Don Perata ...
Would I be correct in guessing that the lack
of a (D) or (R) means that:
a. this perp is a (D), and
b. the publisher has an agenda to hide that
You would be correct on both counts. D and agenda to hide.
Looks like we have a white Willie Brown wanna be...
In other wurds... a WWBWB?
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